In Times of War
by Enchantments Contest
Summary: In the middle of a war between the supernatural creatures of earth, Bella and her Father make and wield weapons to defend what's left of the Human Race. Little does Bella know, her life is not what it seems.


**Enchantments Contest Entry**

**Title:** In Times Of War

**Word Count: **3,132 words.

**Fantasy Element or Creature: **Faries, Harpies, Merfolk, Dragons, Elves, Manticore and Hellhounds (with unnamed references to other creatures as well.)

**Summary: **In the middle of a war between the supernatural creatures of earth, Bella and her Father make and wield weapons to defend what's left of the Human Race. Little does Bella know, her life is not what it seems and there is a lot more our there than just good an evil.

**Disclaimer: **_Twilight and all affiliated characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer and Atom Publishing House. All events and characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to actual people or events, other than those clearly in the public domain, is purely coincidental._

If there is one thing I have learned, it's that to be invincible, you have to be without mind, body and soul. In other words, no one is without weakness, however small, and every weakness can be exploited.

By the time I was born, some seventeen or eighteen years ago, the war had already been raging on for near a century. In millennia to come, it would be called The Immortal War: the war of nearly every supernatural creature on earth. It was a battle for dominance between two collective groups. Both sides had a vast arsenal of creatures behind it and battles were waged on every front: the land, sea and air.

Unfortunately, whilst humans were not directly in the line of fire, no Other felt a shred of remorse if they killed a human who got in the way or didn't get out of the way fast enough. Some humans sided with the Others, but they were often killed too, forfeiting their lives for those whom they protected.

I was a mere five months old when my mother was carried off by faeries whilst she was entertaining me outdoors in the fresh air. I was seven when my older sister, Angela, was killed in the middle of a battle between harpies and merfolk after we got pushed off a cliff.

My father, Charles, had saved me both times, pulling me from the arms of a faerie and diving in after Angela and I. Angela was mistaken for a mermaid in her skirts and plucked out of the sea by one of the vicious harpies but father managed to get me out of the deadly, watery battleground and run to the safety of the trees.

He was a very intelligent man, keeping us safe and fed by making weapons for humans to defend themselves with. He taught me to use each weapon well, from the elegant Centaurean recurve bow, to the many deadly cavalry sabers he fashioned. The people of nearly every village allowed him to use their blacksmith quarters because the art of fashioning weapons over the years had become crude and weak. My father's weapons were a precious commodity.

It was late one evening, long after I had retired, that something woke me from my slumber. I still to this day do not know if it was that the intruder made a noise, or if something deep within me recognized the threat and I awoke.

We were staying in a barn and father and I slept up in the loft. I pulled on the breeches that I wore and grabbed my sword from where it lived beside my bed before creeping over to where the ladder descended to the barn floor. I smiled wryly, recalling how father had once said it was more apt for a girl to wear a dress, rather than the breeches that I was so fond of. I had replied that it took to long to get a dress on if we were fighting in the middle of the night and I highly doubted he wanted me fighting without any clothing on. He quickly agreed.

Agilely, I slid down the ladder and moved across the dusty barn floor to the latched door to outside. Gripping my sword more tightly, I opened the door and stood awed by the sight in front of me.

The moonlight bathed the scene in a ghostly light, leeching all the colour from it. A magnificent black dragon was silently beating its wings to come to a graceful landing before folding them flush against its body. The black scales seemed to glow silver under their moon, which was a mere slither away from being full.

I was frozen by the majestic sight. In these times, dragons were few and far between, having deserted the cause when the war broke out. They proclaimed that the greed and selfishness of every race was foolish and that they must figure it out between themselves.

To see one in real life was awe-inspiring. I stared until something dropped off the back of the dragon. Ducking back into the shadows, I waited for the figure to pass by me, into the barn.

He paused momentarily and looked around, as if sensing my presence, before continuing inside. I thanked the gods that it was early summer and the nights had lost their bitter chill, allowing me to stay outdoors without freezing.

I peeked cautiously inside and tried not to gasp at what I saw. Father was awake and clothed, already lighting lamps around the barn and gesturing for the rider to take a seat at our little table. As he turned, I could make out more of the strange man's features.

He had tousled bronze hair that looked like it had spent too long in the wind and was quite a bit shorter than the current shoulder length fashion. He had a handsome face with high cheekbones and a strong jaw, much like the dragon he rode. He was clothed in tight fitting pants that tucked into leather boots and a tight leather vest over a dark shirt with loose sleeves and leather riding gloves. He had an air about him that hinted of danger; some faint warning that ran beneath the skin, just out of the grasp of conscious recognition.

"I trust your family is well," said father, tinkering around, gathering things from the workshop and placing them together.

"Indeed," replied the man smoothly. "Carlisle sends his regards and Rose passed on her thanks for the armor. Alice often wears the leg braces you made and Jasper is looking forward to the new pair of cuffs: he wore out his last pair sparring with Emmett."

"And your saddle?" asked father, packing things in a large, unfamiliar bag that the rider had handed him.

"Still holding strong," he continued, taking the bag from father. From what I had seen, it contained a large bundle of long arrows, two swords, a belt of very delicate daggers, a pair of hardened leather vambraces, and a long, extendable rowan staff, reinforced with metal plating. I noticed that the rider already wore a sword, as well as quite a few other weapons that I wasn't familiar with.

"I thought Alice or Rose might like the daggers," said father. "They're light and razor sharp so be careful."

"Aren't we always," said the man, the bag suddenly disappearing in his arms, causing me to start. "How are you faring?"

"As well as could be expected," answered father, a look of sadness in his eyes. "Bella is not yet of age and already they haunt me. The Elfish Queen told me that if she did not take her place by her eighteenth birthday, then the guard would come and take her away." His voice broke and tears began to well in his eyes.

"She would not survive long there," replied the man, a sad look on his beautiful face. "The queen protested her birth in the first place and showed nothing but malice for her over the years. If Isabella knew how many attempts had been made on her life, she would live in fear."

I leant in, trying to hear more of the story. It was obvious that they were hiding something from me and keeping secrets regarding the past. I was about to creep in to the barn itself when something warm and damp suddenly nudged at my neck. I turned to find myself face to face with the scaly black dragon that had landed in our yard.

My heart thundered in my chest as I backed up against the barn wall, my tongue seemingly glued to the roof of my mouth in fear. The dragon's nose pressed against my own and I stopped breathing immediately, my back literally against the wall. I felt the smooth hard scales on the tip of its nose against the soft skin of my face as it nuzzled my forehead and cheeks

Suddenly, a low chuckle rang out in the darkness causing the dragon to withdraw its nose and my legs to buckle. I collapsed upon the ground, my head down, breath hissing short and shallow between my teeth, making me feel light headed.

"Whoa, whoa," said the rider, kneeling in front of me and putting his hands on either side of my head, pressing his fingertips to my scalp in an oddly soothing motion. "Astona was merely curious: she meant you no harm. She is asking me now what she did wrong and is afraid she may have upset you."

I had to take a moment before I could reply. "She merely startled me," I said breathlessly. "I was not aware she was so close until she was breathing down my neck."

I looked at the man who was perched in front of me and was amazed at how close he was. His eyes glittered with emerald fire, seeing right through my own into the depths of my soul, whilst revealing nothing about himself. We looked at each other for a moment more before he broke away, removing his hands from my head and straightening up.

"She is still very young," he said, moving to Astona's side and running a hand down her neck. "A mere fifty something years old; still practically a baby seeing as dragons can live to be thousands of years old. She still chases birds and small rodents and has a nasty habit of chewing her toes. She thinks you have rejected her, and that you don't want to be friends."

I sat for a moment more before rising and moving slowly towards the dragon. Father had told me that dragons were sentient beings, capable of intelligence greater than that of any Other. I could see evidence of that in the way its fiery eyes regarded me with shrewd wisdom.

"I meant no disrespect," I said to the dragon directly, not even feeling odd about it. "I have never seen one of your kindred before and you startled me by being so close. My name is Isabella, and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

I curtseyed as I would if I were meeting an important human and hoped I wasn't offending her by doing so. As I rose again, Astona looked at me for a moment before dipping her own head in what I assumed to be the dragon equivalent of a bow.

"She is glad that you are not frightened of her," said her rider, amusement dancing on his face. "She thinks you smell nice and would like to be friends with you."

I heard him stifle a laugh at my confused and taken aback expression.

"I would be glad to make friends with you as well," I said to the dragon, which looked at me expectantly. I couldn't help but notice the way her tongue protruded from between her teeth, much like an oversized dog.

"Be careful, Isabella," said the rider, swinging up into the saddle that father had evidently made him. "Go to bed and stay safe. Your father loves you very much and would be devastated to know something happened to you."

"At least tell me your name before you go," I asked, looking up at him.

He hesitated momentarily before saying, "Edward. My name is Edward."

"And how do I contact you, should I be in trouble?" I asked, knowing that my father would not be around forever and there may well come a day when I desperately needed assistance.

Edward fumbled around his neck before withdrawing two identical chains of silver, both with two halves of the same pendant on them. He jumped off Astona and walked over to where I stood, handing me one of the chains.

"Should you need me, this pendant will tell me," he said, brushing his fingers over his own pendant. "Provided you are wearing it at the time, I will always be able to feel if you are in trouble and it will guide me to where you are."

I placed the chain around my neck, feeling the metal warm to my skin. I thanked him and he got back on Astona.

I stood back and watched them winging away through the night sky before I returned inside to where Charlie was already asleep. As I slipped beneath the covers, my hand came instinctively to the pendant around my neck.

With the warm metal in my hand, I was quickly lulled off to sleep, knowing that one day, I would meet my dragon rider again. My Edward.

Not one year later, father was killed by a manticore. Whilst we did manage to defeat it, father was poisoned by the deadly venom in its tail. I held his head as he lay on the ground, the wound ripped into his chest.

"I love…you…Bella," he whispered between gasping for breath. "Beware…queen…careful."

"Shh," I whispered, wiping his sweaty hair back from his face. "I love you too."

Tears welled in my eyes and rolled in fat drops down my cheeks as he struggled to breathe. It would have been kinder of me to have broken his neck and saved his suffering, but what daughter could kill her own father.

"C…c…cullen, c…cullen," he whispered softly, before I felt his entire body go limp and his breathing cease. I pressed my fingers to his neck to confirm that his heart had stopped stuttering along in its uneven beat.

Four men from the village helped me prepare a pyre far out of town and I set the torch to the timber and sent the flames to the sky, standing alone as I watched him burn. I stood by the smoldering embers until dawn the next day, when I went back to the hut we had been staying in.

I left there nearly immediately, packing all my fathers weapons into a case on my horse. I packed none of my own clothing after finding clothes that used to belong to my mother. One piece in particular was so amazing that I changed into it immediately. The pants were leather, reinforced with some sort of canvas and lined with cotton. The shirt was made of thick dark linen and the vest was similar to the pants, but the leather was hardened. The boots came up to my knees, had thick soles on them and the soles were lined with fur.

All packed up, I left and travelled south, much to the despair of the town we had been staying in. They had come to depend on father and me for their protection.

I travelled for days, sleeping in the saddle and not really caring where my well trained horse wandered. I knew she would wake me if anything was wrong.

I was one such time when I found myself in a very bad situation. I had been sleeping when suddenly the horse whinnied and jerked to a halt, waking me immediately.

I sat up and looked for the danger, but in the diminished light, I could see none. Nevertheless, I strung my bow and withdrew my sword, trusting the horse's instincts and senses better than my own.

Up ahead, something shimmered slightly. I looked for a moment before a pair of spectral red eyes emerged in the gloom. The word hellhound instantly sprang to mind and I nocked an arrow, shooting it right between the red eyes.

I heard the dull sound as the arrow thudded into the ground. Father had told me that hellhounds could become intangible and float away as if not there. I immediately nudged the horse with my calves, urging it into a gallop. If I couldn't see the beast, I certainly couldn't fight it.

Suddenly, something caught me about the side, pulling me out of the saddle to the ground where I landed heavily, the breath driven from my lungs. I could sense nothing about me but I had lost my sword in the fall so I withdrew two daggers as I heard the horses thunder away in the distance.

Then, something pinned my arm and I screamed in pain as claws and teeth ripped into my flesh. I stabbed with my other dagger and felt satisfied as it buried in flesh and the hound whimpered and withdrew. Blood ran down my arm in rivulets, black in the moonlight, drenching my sleeve. Gritting my teeth, I ripped my sleeve, regretting not wearing the shirt that the centaurs had given me as it probably would have offered more protection. I pulled the material tight around my arm, recalling how father had told me that hellhounds were also poisonous.

When the hound attacked again, it went for my useless arm but I managed to fend it off before it made knew puncture holes. I wasn't some idiot who thought I could keep this up forever. I could already feel a searing pain spreading through my body, probably from the poisonous bite.

The hellhound attacked twice more before it managed to drive me to my knees, puncturing my calf with its talons. Shaking with the pain my body was subjected to, I curled up in the fetal position and tried to drag the shuddering breaths through my teeth, waiting for the beast to finish me off.

Suddenly, I heard a roar above me and I squeezed my eyes shut in fear. The air around me became warm and I heard the dog yelp and whine before it was cut off with a sickly squelch.

My eyes sprung open to reveal a great black dragon with small spot fires burning all around it. That was all I saw before the pain blinded and I screamed in agony.

Something cool touched my head and I looked up, seeing for the second time in my life, a pair of glittering emerald eyes. _Edward_.

"I knew…I'd see…you…again…" I choked, air not properly drawing into my lungs, poison coursing through my body.

"Hold on, Bella," he said, scooping me into his arms and moving to where Astona waited. "It's going to be alright if we can get you back to Carlisle."

"It hurts…so…much," I whispered, my body feeling as if it were being attacked by hundreds of hellhounds all over again.

"I know, love," he said, gently pulling me into the saddle with him and urging Astona to take off. "Just hold on. Please, whatever you do, hold on."

"I don't…think…I can," I said, my vision disappearing in a myriad of dark spots.

The pain was beyond what I could stand now, and I knew that it was over for me. I could not go on any longer with the pain as it was.

"I knew…I'd see…you again…" I whispered, barely audible against the wind. The darkness opened up and swallowed me, and finally, the pain ceased.


End file.
